Symbhala
Symbhala is relatively new country in the northmost area of Terrestia; West of Xavara and Northeast of Shin-ra A vast country with several regions, the land of Symbhala is a land of magic and music. Each land based on a different style of music. From the anarchic and blazing Metal Badlands, the beautiful white and gold city of Concerto, to the funky and lively Town of Forever City. Formas Formas are the magic users of the country. While the vast majority of citizens in Symbhala play an instrument or sing, but not all of them are magic users. Their powers are brought on through their instrument known as a Notebringer. A Forma’s power is known as their “Stage Presence.” The power and strength of the magic is determined by several things. The skill of the musician, a singer with no skill in guitar would be unable to use a guitar based Notebringer, but a singer with both skill in vocals and strings would be able to use both and possess two Stage Presence. It is also judged by the imagination of the Forma. A less creative Forma will only be able to shoot fire from a saxophone based Notebringer and nothing more. But if they grow more creative with their magic, they could do more; summoning creatures made of fire, different forms of fire, or the utilitarian uses of fire. The last aspect to be taken into account is the instrument itself. Just as any normal weapon, the material of a Notebringer matters, but not as much as the Forma’s skill and creativity. An out of tune instrument or off key vocalization will result in weaker attacks. Notebringers & Stage Presence A Notebringer is custom made for the Forma, based on their personality and appearance or special requests. Luthiers, the blacksmiths, are some of the most important people in the country. A Notebringer can be any type of conventional instrument, guitars, keyboards, harps, microphones, and even stranger things like spoons. The rarest type of Formas are conductors, who use batons as their Notebringers, they typically fit the role of a summoner or a support for other Notebringers. The power of a Notebringer isn't determined by the instrument itself, with exceptions, but by the Forma's Stage Presence. While many guitarists in the Metal Badlands use their guitars as melee weapons and typically use fire or lightning based magic, not all of them are as such or guitarists in Xanadu use something different for instance. The exception are conductors, who are always summoners or people who create phantom instruments. A Forma's Stage Presence is decided by themselves, from their creativity and their inspiration, the region they are in and what genre of music they are accustomed to plays a key role in it. Vocalists who are accustomed to pop will be different to rappers. Regions All of the Regions of Symbhala encapsulate a certain music genre, be it Classic, Rock, R&B, or Jazz. The regions all have their own architechture, peculiar land formations, and environmental temperature and biomes. Concerto: The land of classical music. Spanning white and gold cities, angular buildings of white stone, towers reaching the skies, all under a blue, clear sky. The architechture and environment can be compared to Mediterranean countries, specifically Venice and Santorini, but with more regal, gold and brass motifs. It is ruled over by the Basil Royal Family, who do their best to be seen as benevolent rulers. As the music of the land implies, the Formas here fight with instruments associated with Classics; Winds, pianos, snare and bass drums, non-electric string instruments, and even chanting vocals. It is also one of the only places which conductor batons are common. Metal Badlands: A large spanning desert, the only landmarks being the guitar shaped rock formations and the settlements. Fire spouts from the ground and thunder rains down from the sky. Most would consider this place uninhabitable. But not for the populance of this region, all of them metal heads. The region is ruled over and divided by lesser warlords, all of which answer to one of the two head warlords: Sir Dread and Sun God Gunther. The method of transportion are giant cars, usually with large speakers strapped to them. The most common instruments are guitars, drums, pipe organs, and microphones. Forever City: A large region, despite the name implying that it is just a city, with skyscrapers stretching to the sky. Much more inhabitable than the Metal Badlands, it is a heavily populated. Hip Hop and Rap are the main styles of music. It doesn't have an official ruler, but several groups band together to maintain a sense of kinship, law, and order, the most prominent being the Tri-City DJs. The most common instruments are vinyls, mics, and speaker systems. Xanadu: The rock centric region and one of the most normal ones at a glance, other than the odd archetectures, with buildings resembling guitars or speakers. It is another one of the more populated regions. City blocks are divided by genres of rock, due to the large amounts of variations; Normal, Oriental, New Wave, Hard Rock, Psychedelic, and so on. The ruler of the country is a powerful Notebringer known as Eddy Roth, who is opposed to a strong sense of order and embraces the variations of music in the country. The most common instruments are guitars, mics, drums, bass, and sometimes keyboard. The Sleepy Island: A rather small region of Symbhala, not too far from Forever City. For lack of a better description, it is a stoner centric city, Reggae being the most common genre. Peaceful and quiet, it doesn't harm anyone and no one goes out of their way to harm it either. It lacks a ruler as well, but the populance doesn't seem to care. The most common instruments are bongo drums, guitars, and vocals. The Machine: Techno music and electronics dominate this region. Resembles East Lumina if the city was populated by music obsessed mages. Gangs and clans dominate the region, only able to be put onder control by the robotic rulers of the region, the two Daft Kings. The most common instruments in the city are speaker systems, control panels, keyboards, and vinyls. Star ★ City: The Pop music region. Not well liked by many of the region but remains popular with several people. Despite the dislike, the populance tries their best to maintain a good image whether or not they are good people or not. Vocals are of course the most common "instrument" by a long shot.